New IndiGen Blogpost

During the workshop: Bart Barendregt (left) is summarizing the last presentations. Photo: Luisa Marten.

(Re)mobilizing historical expeditions: Collections, fieldworkers, and digital returns

By Magnus Treiber

It was certainly unexpected, when a student assistant, screening Prof. Dr. Erwin Stresemann’s personal estate in our university archive at LMU Munich, found two handwritten diaries, authored not by Stresemann, but by Markus Mailopu. Mailopu, born and educated on Seram island in the Moluccas in today’s Indonesia, was hired as a field assistant for the 2nd Freiburg Moluccan Expedition, 1910-1912, and joined the expedition members on their return to Europe. The student assistant’s discovery led to a research project, funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, and inspired us to further explore the legacies of historical expeditions and their potential value today.

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